Whether the reasons for producing overseas are for innovation, design, value or other strategic purposes, many laminate suppliers have seen tremendous benefits with imports.

According to Derek Welbourne, CEO at inhaus, the imports of laminate flooring come in a broad range of products from low end price point to the latest in technology and design.

“We at inhaus are part of the Classen group based in Germany. In terms of laminate production capacity and technology, Classen is one of the top three companies in the world with an annual capacity rated at 860 million square feet,” said Welbourne

Top suppliers said very serious precautions are taken to make sure product meets the highest standards. While Armstrong produces most of its laminate in the United States, the company, for example, has in-house personnel in the factories manufacturing its laminate abroad to monitor quality.

“We provide the standards that we expect our products to meet,” said Goodwin, vice president of wood and laminate at Armstrong. “We have our team on the ground and in the plants to make sure our standards are met.”

George Kelley, CEO of Kronotex USA, said that the company is receiving an ISO 9000 certification by the end of this year. “Part of the rationale to undertake the ISO process is to insure we have systems and procedures in place to meet and exceed the ever increasing quality and environment standards our customers demand. This includes certifying that the materials we import also meet those standards,” said Kelley.

Many top laminate manufacturers, such as Kronotex USA, noted that certain products are made overseas because they cannot be made as cost effectively otherwise. “Kronotex USA is a 95 percent made in America manufacturer and we only import those products that we cannot produce in the USA. Long planks are a good example and we only import from companies within the SwissKrono family,” he said.

“Although we at Faus do most of our North American laminate manufacturing here in the U.S., some of our items we import from Spain. Those are more European type wood looks, which is where most of the demand for this type of product is anyway. But because there is some demand for that in the U.S. and Canada, we import these products from our plants in Spain,” added said Sergio Negre at Faus.

Goodwin at Armstrong noted that the company has developed trusting relationships with partners in Europe and China who have the ability to manufacture certain designs. “We’re not playing in the commodity end of laminate. Our dealers want unique designs and features and we have been rewarded for that,” he said.

Most laminate manufacturers agreed that what matters most when it comes to production is efficiency. Derek Welbourne at inhaus said the company considered constructing a facility in North America and other parts of the world where it has meaningful market share, but decided against it.

“We realized that the most efficient model for us was to continue to invest all of our production capital in one site and making that site the largest and most efficient as possible,” said Welbourne. “We, by heritage, are a logistics company. We feel that it doesn't matter if we are shipping goods on truck, rail or container, or we are manufacturing, it is all about the efficient flow of goods.”

Inhaus laminate, made at Classen’s factory in Berlin, Germany.

Formica Flooring’s Quintessa collection
is manufactured in its European facility.